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PHILADELPHIA – The 76ers reached an agreement with Danny Granger to buy out the remainder of the final season of the former All-Star small forward's contract Wednesday, the team announced, clearing the way for him to become an unrestricted free agent and sign with a playoff contender.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. He will know if he clears waivers by 5 p.m. Friday. The release costs the oft-injured Granger his Bird rights and the Sixers any sign-and-trade possibilities involving the Indiana Pacers' one-time franchise player this offseason. Bird rights allow a veteran player's current team to re-sign him to a longer and richer contract than other franchises are able to offer.

Granger's buyout also means that the Sixers, in essence, traded Evan Turner, the second overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, and Lavoy Allen to the Pacers for a late second-round draft pick in 2015 previously belonging to Golden State.

Granger, 30, a nine-year veteran who Indiana dealt to Philadelphia at the NBA trade deadline Feb. 20, had no interest in playing out the rest of the season with the rebuilding Sixers (15-42), who have the second-worst record in the league. Philadelphia has lost 12 consecutive games and 22 of its last 25. There are 24 games remaining in the regular season.

"Unbelievable. I was going to start him tonight," Sixers coach Brett Brown said, joking before Wednesday's 101-90 loss to the Orlando Magic. "We wish him well. We worked with him, we talked a lot about treating people the way they should be treated, respecting his situation, listening to him and still running a business. [Sixers general manager] Sam [Hinkie] was able to do both of those things."

The 6-foot-8 Granger needed to reach an agreement with the Sixers and be waived by midnight Saturday in order to be eligible to compete in the playoffs this season with whatever team he joins. Should he clear waivers and reach free agency, Granger may sign with another team at any time before the end of the regular season and still be eligible to appear in the playoffs.

Granger is reportedly considering signing with Miami, Chicago, Houston, San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers, with the latter two teams being the front-runners for his services. There is approximately $4 million remaining on his contract, which paid him about $14 million this season.

Granger was named an NBA All-Star in 2009, when he averaged a career-high 25.8 points per game, but his play and body have deteriorated considerably since. He played in just five games last season because of patellar tendinosis in his left knee and is averaging just 8.3 points and 3.6 rebounds in 29 games this season, while mostly coming off the bench.

"His accomplishments and accolades to this point of his NBA career more than speak for themselves, so I would like to express that I have a great deal of respect for Danny Granger as a person," Hinkie said in a release. "The manner with which he carried himself throughout this process was professional, courteous and respectful, and speaks volumes about his character.

"Following the completion of the trade on Thursday night, Danny traveled to Philadelphia and we had an opportunity to meet with him here. These were in addition to the open lines of communication with his agent Aaron Mintz and CAA while we worked through the next steps.

"Given Danny's future goals and his desire to pursue them, we worked to fulfill his requests and have come to a resolution that we feel is mutually beneficial to both Danny and our organization.

"We wish Danny the best in the next phase of his career."

Granger is the second of five players acquired by the Sixers at the trade deadline who have been waived. The team also parted ways with forward Earl Clark in order to reach the NBA's maximum 15-player roster limit only hours after he was dealt by the Cleveland Cavaliers as part of a package for center Spencer Hawes.

With the release of Granger, the Sixers are down to 14 players on their roster. They're in no rush to fill the vacancy, and are likely to sign and release a handful of players over the final couple of months of the season.

"We're not trying to bring in Boy Scouts," Brown said. "We want high probability that they're going to be in rotations for NBA teams, that they can be a part of something that can grow. Are you an elite shooter? Are you an elite defender? Do you just have this incredible desire to defend? … Those are the types of players we're looking for, and those are the ones we need to put on the floor and see in this little portion of the season if they're keepers."